The Final Stretch
by HolyOrdersOtaku
Summary: This is an AU where there are no Grimm. The discovery of Dust lead to the creation of most of the present day technologies, including the modern vehicle. Over the years, racing entered the sports scene. Every year there are a series of Grand Prix races all over Remnant...but only one driver can be the champion. Bumblebee, and maybe other ships.


_**This is an AU where there are no Grimm. The discovery of Dust lead to the creation of most of the present day technologies, including the modern vehicle. Over the years, racing entered the sports scene. Every year there are a series of Grand Prix races all over Remnant...but only one driver can be the champion.**_

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><p>Chapter 1: Ready?<p>

_'Yesterday, the Mistral Grand Prix ended with the victory of Pyrrha Nikos, driving her powerful Victory!'_ the radio stated matter of factly. _'She's been the Remnant Grand Prix champion for two consecutive years, and she doesn't seem to be stepping down from that title any time soon! As the driver for Race Team Mag, it appears that there aren't very many drivers who can hope to match her skills! Her win at the Mistral Grand Prix grants her qualification to participate in the Remnant Grand Prix, but she's not the only one to take a spot! Today, at the Vale Grand Prix, we'll find out who our regional driver will be at the final race! Out of all the drivers racing today, the most incredible is Yang Xiao Long, who appears to have skirted her way into the roster by sheer luck! I very much doubt that she can pull of a win on the track today, what with her...'_

Yang cut off the radio with a flip of a switch "Shut up," she said angrily. "I guess I'll just have to show you how it's done!" Adjusting her seat to get comfortable, she buckled in. She heard a tap on her window. Rolling it down, she saw her little sister/mechanic; Ruby Rose. "How is she?"

"I got her purring," Ruby said with a smile, an oil stain soiling her left cheek. "You won't believe what kind of hardware Weiss got you this time around! Aren't you happy I talked her into being the team manager?"

Yang smiled. "Well, having the heiress of the Schnee Dust Company _should_ come with some perks. If they didn't, I'd probably have booted her out of the team by now."

"Aw, don't be like that. She's just trying to make you push yourself as a driver."

"Oh, I know, sis. I was just kidding."

_"Ruby!"_ came Weiss's voice over the team headset channel. _"Get off the track! The race is about to start!"_

"Right!" Ruby declared. "Good luck, sis! Be careful out there!"

_"I spent a lot of money on that car, Yang. Don't you dare get a single scratch on it!"_

"If someone puts me into the wall, it aint my fault," was all Yang said as a reply. Ruby waved goodbye and returned to the pit where she would watch the race via a Scroll; this was a sprint style race, rather than a circuit, so there would be no pit stops.

The starting line, where Yang's yellow Firebird waited for the green flag, rested within a massive tunnel: the Vale Raceway was designed to run above and below ground, and at one point it was in a glass tunnel under the harbor. This track was one of the hardest to navigate on Remnant. "I'd like to see that pompous Pyrrha race on _this_," Yang said tauntingly, even though the driver in question was not present and thus couldn't hear her. The hood of the Firebird had a decal of the Schnee Company's logo, and the rear bumper read Firebrand: that was Yang's race team.

This was her dream. She was going to go all the way. She was going to win the Vale Grand Prix, and go on to win the Remnant Grand Prix and be the world racing champion. Ever since she saw Ozpin race when she was little, this was all she wanted to do.

Unfortunately, she wouldn't be starting this race in first place. She was starting at about fifth. _Damn qualifying track. It had rained, that's why I drove slower than normal!_ she thought angrily. The car in front of her was an elegantly black super car. While Yang's machine looked like an upgraded muscle car (which it pretty much was), this looked like it was originally built for racing. It gave off an animalistic vibe, as it look almost catlike. The team name on the back said BEAST. "Catchy," she commented. Then she noticed the driver.

She was just now approaching her car, the clock stating that there was less than five minutes before the green flag went down. The woman was about Yang's age. Her hair was jet black, her eyes a piercing yellow, and she was wearing some kind of head accessory.. Her race suit was black with a few white trimmings in places, such as around her neck and at the cuffs of her sleeves. She donned a pair of white racing gloves. Someone called the woman's name. Yang couldn't hear it because she was in her own car already, but she noticed that the "head accessory" twitched in response before she turned around. _That's not an accessory. Those are cat ears. She's a faunus!_ Yang gave another glance at the driver's black car; the vaguely feline appearance and team name now made sense.

Glancing back at the girl, she saw that a blonde haired man, who was wearing an open shirt to showcase his killer abs, (_You could grind meat on those! _Yang thought momentarily) was discussing something with her. Nodding, the black haired faunus girl gave him a brief wave before climbing into her car. She was making minor adjustments in the driver seat, and when she moved to tweak the rear view mirror slightly she caught sight of Yang's staring gaze. Having realized what she was doing, Yang bashfully returned her gaze to her own car. Risking one final look ahead, she saw the black haired girl smile at her in the rear view mirror. She mouthed something that looked like "Good luck," and Yang replied with her own "You too."

_"Yang, turn on your Grand Prix channel on your radio,"_ Weiss crackled in over the team radio. _"It's about to begin."_

Yang nodded and flipped the main radio switch, the one she turned off earlier, back on. She heard the music of the local sports station play briefly before hearing that telltale voice. This one wasn't the annoying one that doubted her abilities, but the one that people actually liked.

_"Hey~ there Vale race fans! Are you ready for one of the most important racing events of the year? My name is Nora Valkyrie, you host for the event, and with me today is your co-host, Neptune Varsilias!"_ the energetic voice of a girl erupted from the speakers, bringing a smile to Yang's face.

_"Good afternoon,"_ replied Neptune's cool voice. _"I don't know about the rest of Vale, but I'm absolutely ecstatic for today's race!"_

_"The line up looks quite interesting today! Like all the other Grand Prix races, we held a qualifier that any racer could join. While they each had to have at least five wins this season, only the eight fastest times qualified. In the lineup we have: Bartholomew Oobleck of team Outclass, a long time attendee of the Vale Grand Prix as it were. Another return veteran is Junior of team Club Haus, followed by Sky Lark of team Cloudchasers. They've already got one racer qualified for the Remnant Grand Prix, you know!"_

Neptune continued where Nora left off. _"We also have Blake Beladonna, A.K.A. the Wildcat, of team BEAST. She's one of the few faunus drivers in the Grand Prix Association, you know. Behind her is Yang Xiao Long of team Firebrand, and she's a newcomer with a big ambition to win. Next we have Cinder Fall from team Candle. She's supposed to be the on in charge of that team, but her record shows that she isn't as good as the other drivers. Aric Rouge of team Lunar Eclipse, and lastly we have Scarlet from my own team, team Bright."_

Nora whistled. _"That's right, you _did_ qualify for the Remnant Grand Prix this year, didn't you Neptune? Winner of the Haven Grand Prix in the Mistral region."_

Yang cringed at the awkward laugh that Neptune responded with. _"Yeah, well, that's not important today. Today is the Vale Grand Prix, and we're sixty seconds away from the green flag!"_

_ "That's right! And to kick it all off, we go trackside with the winner of the very first Remnant Grand Prix; Ozpin!"_

Yang's heart skipped a beat. _He's here?_ she thought, suddenly feeling nervous. A voice came over the speakers that spanned the entire track. "Drivers," it was clearly the calm, cool voice of Ozpin. "Start your engines."

Twisting the ignition, the Firebird's engine fired up and was ready for action. Every car around her roared to life as well. This was the moment. This was the day that Yang's hard work would pay off. Red was the light in front of her; it wasn't time yet.

Then the first of three yellow lights lit up. Her foot hovered over the accelerator. _Any time now!_. The second yellow light. Yang's grip tightened on the steering wheel to the point that her knuckles where turning white, though the yellow racing gloves concealed that. The third and final yellow light came on. A drop of sweat poured down her cheek as she quickly donned a pair of yellow tinted goggles. At long lost came the green light.

She shifted into drive and floored it, quickly gaining momentum. It was incredible to witness on camera; eight cars went from Zero to Sixty in about three seconds. Before too long, the cars had emerged from the tunnel and found daylight as they reached one hundred miles per hour.

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><p>Ruby was glued to her tablet. She was ignoring anyone who happened to be in the pits with her simply because she was absorbed in watching her sister race on the small screen. She was so excited to see her baby in action. That wasn't a reference to her older sister; she was referring to Firebird. Ruby had worked on cars for most of her teenage life, so when Weiss and Yang told her to build Yang's machine she couldn't refuse. With Weiss's influence and money, they acquired some of the best parts they could get their hands on and Ruby was able to build a <em>masterpiece<em>; the art which she lovingly dubbed _Firebird_.

Ruby loved cars. She always did. But no car could compare to one that she had built herself. So, it brought her an infinite amount of joy as she watched on the scroll as her sister swerved this way and that to advance further and further into position. _"It looks like the new girl, Yang Xiao Long, has just taken third place! She's still behind Blake Belladonna, but she's making great headway against the rest of the competition!"_ Nora exclaimed happily in the commentary booth.

"Alright, sis! Show em who's boss!" Ruby yelled. She heard a subtle cough. Looking around, she saw the other mechanics and family members of the other racers staring at her. She blushed and smiled bashfully. "Uh, sorry." Returning her gaze to the scroll, her smile widened. "You go, sis!" she whispered excitedly.

After about fifteen minutes of watching, she received a message from Weiss. _"Go to the finish line. The race will be over soon."_ Nodding, Ruby hopped onto her sister's motorcycle and drove to the finish line. Thankfully the race took them away from the finish line to begin with, otherwise Ruby would never make it in time. At this rate, she'd be there just a few minutes before the drivers crossed the line.

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><p>Less than two miles were left in the race. Yang had secured third place at this point, but that wasn't good enough. These last two miles would fly by in a heartbeat, so there wasn't much time to advance up to first place; but she just <em>had<em> to try! In front of her was the black haired racer, whom Neptune called Blake Belladonna, and in front of her was Junior. Behind Yang was Cinder, and she was inching closer by the second, preparing to take Yang's third place position.

They made a right turn, and then she saw it. Here it was; the final stretch. A mile and a half straight ahead was the finish line, and the checker flag. She looked around herself at the other drivers; she knew they had tricks up their sleeves that they were saving for just this moment. The interesting thing about the Grand Prix was that as long as you didn't purposely kill another driver, almost anything was allowed. Yang eyed a button on her steering wheel intently; it read in massive, bold letters _Dust Cartridge_. The Firebird was equipped with a dust cartridge that would dump a load of dust straight into the engine; it was a special boosting dust that would accelerate the car's speed. She had to time it's use perfectly, or risk losing it all. Timing was everything here!

Yang's body jerked forward, causing her to look in the mirror to see what just happened. Cinder had rammed her. Her eyes spoke volumes. "Move or I'll wreck you!" they seemed to be screaming.

"Tch," Yang said as Cinder rear ended her again. "You wanna spin me out? You're gonna have to catch me, you hag!" She flipped the cover off of her dust switch. "Ram this!" Pressing the button, she heard a loud pop come from the front of her car; the dust had been injected into the engine. Her body was pressed into the seat as the car accelerated well beyond what could possibly be considered safe. She quickly passed Blake and Junior, leaving them in her dust. She briefly saw their shocked expressions when she flew by them. "See you at the finish line!"

In her rear view mirror, she thought she saw Blake smile briefly before pressing a button of her own. Accelerating, the faunus girl passed Junior and reclaimed second place, this time catching up to Yang. _Oh, kitty's got some fight!_ she thought. Now side by side, the two women shared a glance at each other before focusing all of their attention on the finish line. Neck and neck, it seemed as though neither one was going to give up the first place position. Gritting her teeth, Yang kept the pedal to the floor.

_"The finish line is in reach!"_ Nora exclaimed over the radio. _"Who's going to take the Vale victory? The newcomer, or the Wildcat!"_

Yang smiled. "Don't play with fire, Kitty! You'll get burned!" She was about to activate the dust cartridge again.

_"Yang! What are you doing!? Don't!"_ Weiss cried over the team chat.

It was too late. She flipped the switch and ignited the dust. It was too much for her engine to handle twice in the same race. A loud pop, followed by flames shooting from her exhaust, signaled the destruction of her engine. Smoke filled the cab and she began to lose speed. Just seconds later, she crossed the finish line...just inches behind Blake.

Upon crossing over the line, she finally lost control and swerved into a wall without touching her steering wheel. The impact caused her to spin once or twice, and her front wheels had popped off of the car and were rolling all over the track. Her safety harness protected her from most of the damage, but she still hit her head on the window. Her vision started to blur. She heard the other races zoom by her, but then she heard one of them...come back? _Why would one of them come back?_ she thought as she started to lose consciousness.

The driver side door opened, and Yang could have sworn she saw a black haired cat faunus yelling at her, asking if she was okay. "The woman I lost to is making sure I'm okay?" she muttered. "I must be dreaming. No racer is that nice." Her eyes closed as she embraced the sleep that was brought upon by her injury.

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><p>Ruby looked on with horror as her sister crashed. When the other races passed buy, she hopped the barrier where she had parked Yang's motorcycle and ran over to help. She arrived at the same time as the girl who won the race; Blake was her name, if Ruby remembered correctly. "Is she alright?" Ruby asked<p>

Blake turned to face Ruby. "I don't know. She just passed out. Where are the damn EMTs?"

On cue, an ambulance arrived and pulled Yang from the car. After a few moments of initial checking, they stated that she should be fine. "We need to take her to the hospital and check for any serious head injuries. Once we're sure of the state of her head, we'll know for certain, but she appears to have nothing worse than some cuts and bruises." The EMT who said that glanced over at the Firebird. "Whoever built that car knew how to make it safe for a crash."

Ruby felt a moment of pride before she returned to her senses. "If we're going to the hospital, then let's go."

"Do you have a preferred hospital?"

"Schnee Medical Center," Ruby declared as she hopped in the ambulance to join her sister. "Our manager can pay for any fees we need to pay." She turned to Blake. "You're name's Blake, right?" The faunus nodded. "Thanks for stopping to help my sister. And while Yang may not be too happy about it, congratulations on your win. You deserve it."

Blake nodded as the ambulance drove off. Within moments, the track was stormed by press and reporters before she was ushered down to victory lane to accept her trophy for winning the Vale Grand Prix. She was happy. Happier than she'd been in a while. Yet, beneath that joy of having earned a victory, she couldn't help but worry about the other driver. _Yang. Her name was Yang, wasn't it?_ She'd have to make sure of that before she did anything else. She was going to pay the blond driver a visit in the hospital.

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><p><strong>AUTHOR'S NOTE<strong>

I have no idea why I decided to write this. I'd been thinking about how to maybe write _How to Seduce an Heiress_, but instead this popped up. That means I'll have to come up with a new naming gimmick for _HtSaH, _but I don't really mind. This should be fun.

What do you think of the racing team names? I like them, in my opinion!

Till next time! :D


End file.
